An often compelling story of Satan’s falls, despite some hackneyed plot devices.
McElroy follows in John Milton’s footsteps in this slick, contemporary recreation of the war for heaven.
Readers have probably heard this story before: An upstart angel gets too big for his britches and attempts a heavenly coup. War ensues, but chaos is averted as hordes of superpowerful rebels are thrown into a fiery pit. That McElroy has the courage to take on this oft-told tale speaks both to his daring and to his ambition. Often, he’s up to his divine task. He writes confidently—sometimes brilliantly—and his story of arrogance, spite and betrayal has a truly epic feel (“A path had just been paved for angels to look at their own desire and decide what they were missing”). As readers shuttle between the two camps, they’ll think as often of Homer as of the Bible. However, when the author zooms in and focuses on individual characters, his touch is less deft. Unlike Milton’s Satan—whose diabolical allure is part of the thrill of his 1667 poem Paradise Lost—McElroy’s Lucifer is overweening and cardboard flat. All thoughtless pride, he makes his first appearance in the novel as quite literally a rock star, playing a heavenly guitar solo only to seethe when he’s upstaged by God; “I am the highest angel in Heaven,” he mutters. Readers next find him overseeing the construction of his own throne, asking a minion if it is “worthy of sitting next to God’s.” The Lord is also somewhat two-dimensional and has the trite habit of speaking in Bible verses. However, the author’s characterization of Lucifer’s foil, Gabriel, is subtler and thus more gripping; like the Amish craftspeople who leave a flaw in each quilt, the humble angel resists perfection. It’s a nice touch, but the novel can’t help pounding it home—sometimes quite literally: Working on a heavenly building, for example, Gabriel knocks a joist slightly askew, and walking by a pristine stream in paradise, he kicks dirt into the flow. Overall, McElroy’s retelling of the traditional Christian tale is detailed and sometimes thrilling; however, it might have been excellent if it had been a bit more original.
An often compelling story of Satan’s falls, despite some hackneyed plot devices.Pub Date: March 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1612541549
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Brown Books Publishing Group
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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